


When the Snows Thaw

by freyjaschariot



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 17:49:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18665359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freyjaschariot/pseuds/freyjaschariot
Summary: The corner of Jon’s lips twitched up. “You’re the savior of the Seven Kingdoms. You can have anything you want.”“Good,” Arya said. “Because I want you to ask your Dragon Queen to legitimize Gendry.”Jon’s eyebrows shot up. Whatever he had been expecting her to say it wasn’t that. “Gendry? Why?”“So I can marry him.” She said this as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. The sky is blue. Winter is cold. I want to marry Gendry Waters.





	When the Snows Thaw

“Jon.” 

Startled, Jon whipped around to find Arya standing a few feet behind him on the covered walkway that overlooked Winterfell’s courtyard. 

“I’m going to get you a bell to wear if you keep doing that,” he grumbled as his little sister fell in beside him. 

Below them, the effort to rebuild the castle was well underway. Men called out to one another as they worked, the sound of hammering ringing through the courtyard as Winterfell was put back together, beam by beam and stone by stone.

“I wasn’t trying to be sneaky,” Arya said. 

“Aye, I don’t doubt it. Still, you move too quiet.”

A small smile played around Arya’s lips. “Very well. I’ll bang some pots together next time.”

Jon laughed. “I’d appreciate that.”

A comfortable silence settled over them as they watched the work taking place below. The construction was slow but steady. Every day, Winterfell grew stronger, more like the place they had known as children. More like home.

Jon glanced over at Arya. He was still having trouble reconciling the young woman she’d become with the girl he had left behind all those years ago. She was so different...and yet he saw echoes of the girl he’d known in near everything she did, from the way she walked to the way she refused to be anything but the truest version of herself. 

It had been several weeks since they had battled the dead, and Arya’s head injury was well on its way to healing. The Night King’s handprint on her neck had faded, though it was still far paler than the rest of her skin, and Jon had a feeling it would never completely disappear. At the moment she was chewing on her bottom lip, lost in thought. It was a something she had always been getting in trouble for when they were young. Ladies don’t nibble on their lips like rabbits, Jon remembered their Septa saying. He found it oddly comforting that Arya had retained the habit. Another thing that hadn’t changed. 

“What are you thinking about?” he asked. 

Arya huffed a breath and turned to him. “That I need a favor.”

The corner of Jon’s lips twitched up. “You’re the savior of the Seven Kingdoms. You can have anything you want.”

“Good,” Arya said. “Because I want you to ask your Dragon Queen to legitimize Gendry.” 

Jon’s eyebrows shot up. Whatever he had been expecting her to say it wasn’t that. “Gendry? Why?”

“So I can marry him.” She said this as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. The sky is blue. Winter is cold. I want to marry Gendry Waters.

For a moment Jon just stared at her. Finally, he found his voice, though perhaps not his eloquence. “I don’t… what?”

She raised her eyebrows. “You do know what marriage is, don’t you?”

“Seven hells, Arya," Jon growled. "I know what marriage is. I just don’t understand… When did you two even meet?”

“We’ve known each other for years. Ever since King’s Landing. We travelled together before the Brotherhood sold him to the Red Woman.”

“And you never thought to mention this?” Jon demanded.

Arya shrugged. “It wasn’t important then. It is now.”

“Because you want to marry him,” Jon repeated. He was still struggling to believe he was having this conversation with _Arya_ of all people. Arya who scoffed at songs of lords and ladies, who had never taken a liking to anyone their entire childhood. His wild little sister whose dreams had always been of knights and adventures, not marriage and children. 

He could tell Arya was growing impatient with him. “Look, will you do it or not?” she said.

“I…” Jon’s mind reeled. He needed to buy himself more time to think. “Why does he have to be legitimized? I didn’t think you cared about things Iike that.”

Arya rolled her eyes. “I don’t. But Gendry’s got this stupid notion that a bastard can’t marry a lady. The idiot. Now will you do it or not?”

“You’re sure this is what you want?” 

Arya didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“Very well,” Jon said, and Arya’s face split into a smile. “But I can’t make him accept,” he warned. 

“That’s alright,” Arya said, still grinning. “Leave that part to me.” Rising up on her toes, she kissed Jon on the cheek. “Thank you, Jon.”

He nodded mutely as she turned away, still too stunned to say anything. Perhaps marriage was not incompatible with adventures. Perhaps marriage was just a different kind of adventure.

She had made it several feet before he called after her. “Arya.” She turned. “Smiling,” Jon said, “it looks good on you.”

She lifted one brow. “You should try it sometime. If you keep brooding so much your face is going to get stuck like that.”

Jon chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

Once she’d gone, Jon rested his forearms against the railing, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. Gendry and Arya...they did have a fair amount in common. They were both bull-headed to a fault. Loyal beyond measure. And kind, though they would both have rankled to be called thus. The more Jon thought about it, the more he had to admit the match made some sort of twisted sense. And just because they wanted to get married didn’t mean they’d do it right away. Maybe they’d wait a while. At least until the snows thawed and Winterfell had been fully repaired and could host a real celebration. A spring wedding, Jon mused. Yes, that sounded right.

**Author's Note:**

> y'all I'm in so deep with these two, please fangirl with me in the comments!!


End file.
